Do you sometimes react disproportionately to a trivial situation?
A smell, a sound, a phrase... and suddenly, you are overwhelmed by an intense emotion you don't understand. Your heart races, your hands tremble, your throat tightens.
It's not madness. It's your emotional memory speaking.
During my burnout years, I had developed a visceral reaction to the simple sound of a ringing phone. My body tensed instantly, my heart rate sped up, a wave of anxiety overwhelmed me.
Why? Because for months, every phone call at work meant trouble, urgency, stress. My body had recorded that association. And even after leaving that toxic job, the sound of a phone kept triggering the same reaction.
That's emotional memory. And it can ruin your life if you don't understand how it works.
What your body remembers (even when your mind forgets)
Emotional memory is not just "remembering a sad or happy moment."
It's much deeper than that.
It's the way your body encodes and stores emotionally charged experiences. Not in your mind. In your cells, your muscles, your organs, your nervous system.
Do you know the expression "the body never forgets"? It's literally true.
Here's what happens:
When you experience something emotionally charged, whether it's trauma, a moment of intense joy, a deep fear, your brain doesn't just create a mental memory.
It also creates a somatic imprint. A physical memory.
Your amygdala (the part of the brain that manages emotions) records the experience with all its sensory details: the smell, sounds, bodily sensations, context. And it associates all that with the felt emotion.
Result? Years later, a simple stimulus (a smell, a sound, a similar context) can reactivate this emotional memory. And your body reacts as if the event is happening RIGHT NOW.
That's why you can find yourself in a full-blown panic attack without understanding where it comes from. Your mind may not consciously remember. But your body does.
The difference between cognitive memory and emotional memory
Your cognitive memory is the one that stores facts, information, dates.
"I remember that I got my diploma in 2005."
"I remember that Paris is the capital of France."
It's intellectual. Rational. Without emotional charge.
Emotional memory, on the other hand, is:
"I remember the day my father yelled at me in front of everyone. My stomach tightens just thinking about it."
It's not just a mental memory. It's a reactivation of the emotional and physical experience.
The big difference?
Your cognitive memory can be blurry, imprecise, distorted over time. You can forget details, confuse dates.
But your emotional, or cellular, memory remains engraved. Sometimes for decades. With the same intensity as on the first day.
That's why people relive childhood traumas with the same terror at 50 as at 5. It's not that they are "weak" or that they "don't move on."
It's that their emotional memory is always active.
Where your emotional memories hide
Emotional memories are not stored in just one place.
They are scattered throughout your body.
In your brain
The amygdala is the conductor. It encodes emotions, detects danger, activates survival responses. The hippocampus, on the other hand, contextualizes memories (where, when, with whom).
When these two structures work together, they create very powerful emotional memories.
In your nervous system
Your autonomic nervous system records reaction patterns. Fight, flight, freeze.
If you have experienced many situations where you could neither fight nor flee, your system has learned the freeze. And it reactivates this pattern automatically as soon as it detects danger, even if that danger is no longer real or relevant.
In your tissues and organs
Yes, really. Your muscles hold the memory of tensions. Your belly holds the memory of fears. Your throat holds the memory of what you never dared to say.
In Chinese medicine, each organ is associated with a specific emotion. The liver stores anger. The kidneys store fear. The lungs store sadness.
It's not symbolic. It's physical.
And it is ultimately the last barrier, the one that stores and restitutes, that defines the frequency of the cells.
That's why when you work with floral essences like Chichaja, you are not just working on the mind. You are working on cellular memory. On what is encoded in your tissues.
👉 If you feel heaviness in your body, it might be time for you to do a liver detox with the Natural Emotions Liver Detox Kit.
The different types of emotional memories
Not all emotional memories are the same.
Affective memory
It's pure emotion associated with a memory. "When I think of my grandmother, I feel warmth and love." No need to relive the scene in detail. The emotion is there, available.
The sensory memory
This one passes through the senses. The smell of fresh bread instantly takes you back to your childhood. A song awakens an emotion buried for 20 years. It is direct, visceral, impossible to control mentally.
The episodic memory
It is the complete memory of an event with its context and emotional charge. You can relive the scene like a movie, with all the associated emotions.
The traumatic memory
This is the most problematic. It is frozen, non-integrated. The trauma has not been digested, so it remains in a loop. Each time it is reactivated, it is as if you are reliving the event for the first time.
This is what happens in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The person does not just "remember" the trauma. They relive it, over and over, with the same emotional and physical intensity.
Why these memories sabotage you today
Your emotional memories are not just passive recollections.
They actively influence your present life.
They condition your reactions
If you have an emotional memory of rejection or abandonment, you will unconsciously recreate situations where you get rejected or abandoned. Or avoid any relationship as soon as it becomes too intimate.
It's not bad luck. It's your system replaying the recorded pattern.
They limit your choices
"I can't do this, I'm too scared."
Where does this fear come from? Often from an old emotional memory that has nothing to do with the present situation.
They create physical blockages
Chronic tension, recurring pain, digestive problems... many physical symptoms are linked to unreleased emotional memories.
I have supported hundreds of people whose chronic pain disappeared after releasing a traumatic emotional memory. The body literally carried the weight of the unexpressed emotion.
How to release these memories (without retraumatizing yourself)
Here is the good news: these memories can be released.
But not by "trying to forget them" or by "thinking positively."
It is important to work where they are stored: in the body, in the cells.
EMDR: reprogramming traumatic memory
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is one of the most effective therapies for processing traumatic memories.
The principle: you revisit the traumatic memory while performing bilateral eye movements (or other alternating left-right stimulations).
Why does it work? Because these stimulations activate both hemispheres of the brain, allowing the information to be processed differently. The memory is "reconsolidated" in a less emotionally charged way.
After a few EMDR sessions, the memory remains. But the emotional charge decreases significantly. You can think about it without being overwhelmed.
👉 Explore our kit that allows you to go release trauma at the cellular level, Awakening and Release Kit
Somatic therapy: releasing what is stuck in the body
Trauma is frozen energy in the body.
Somatic therapies (like Somatic Experiencing or the Grinberg method) work directly with bodily sensations to release blocked energy.
We are not necessarily talking about the trauma. We work with what the body feels, here and now. Tremors, tensions, breathing blockages.
By allowing the body to complete the survival response that had been interrupted (flee, fight), emotional memory is released.
Flower essences: working on cellular memory
This is where the master plants come into play.
The flower essences do not work on the symptom. They work on the vibrational information stored in your cells.
Chichaja: the purge of cellular memory
Chichaja is the quintessential essence for releasing stored toxic memories. It works deeply on what has been buried for years, sometimes since childhood.
It helps to gently purge what is no longer needed, without having to relive the trauma.
Chagropanga: exploring the subconscious
Chagropanga allows you to access memories buried in your subconscious. It reveals what is hidden, what you have repressed.
It is a powerful plant for inner exploration.
Caapi: grounding in the present
When you are overwhelmed by emotional memories, you are no longer in the present. You are stuck in the past.
Caapi brings you back here and now. It grounds you, stabilizes you, allows you to live in the real rather than in the reactivation of the past.
Chiric Sanango : for those who feel depressed, stuck, and who need to detox from traumas weighing on their lives.
For a complete work, our Kit of 9 Flower Essences acts on all layers: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Therapeutic writing: giving a voice to what was silent
Sometimes, emotional memory just needs to be expressed.
Take a notebook. Write what you feel, without filter, without judgment. Let out what was stuck.
You don't have to understand everything. You don't have to make it coherent. Just let it out, intuitively.
This expression alone can release a huge burden.
Emotional intelligence: transforming your relationship with emotions
Releasing emotional memories is good. But developing your emotional intelligence is even better.
Emotional intelligence is not about "always being calm and zen." It's about understanding your emotions, regulating them healthily, and using them as valuable information.
The 4 pillars of emotional intelligence:
1. Emotional self-awareness
Being able to identify what you are feeling in real time. "Right now, I feel anger. And underneath, there is sadness."
2. Emotional regulation
Know how to manage your emotions without repressing them or letting them overwhelm you. Neither repression nor explosion.
3. Empathy
Understand what the other person feels, without absorbing their emotions.
4. Social skills
Use your emotional intelligence to communicate, resolve conflicts, create authentic connections.
Developing these skills completely transforms your life. You no longer suffer your emotions. You understand them, you welcome them, you use them.
Conclusion: your memories are not your destiny
You may carry heavy memories within you. Traumas, wounds, deep fears.
But these memories do not define who you are.
They can be released. Reworked. Transformed.
Your brain has neuroplasticity. Your cells renew themselves. Your nervous system can self-regulate.
You are not doomed to endlessly replay the same patterns.
There are tools. Therapies. Plants. Support.
And above all, there is an innate healing capacity within you.
Your body wants to heal. It’s just waiting for you to give it the opportunity.
FAQ: Emotional Memory
How to release emotional memory?
To release emotional memory: (1) Somatic therapies (Somatic Experiencing) to release energy stuck in the body, (2) EMDR to reprocess traumatic memories, (3) Flower Essences like Chichaja which work on cellular memory, (4) Therapeutic writing to express what was silent, (5) Body movement (dance, yoga) to dislodge tensions. Important: do not create new traumas, get support from a professional.
What is affective memory?
Affective memory is the pure emotion associated with a memory, without needing to relive the scene in detail. For example: thinking of a deceased person and instantly feeling sadness or warmth. It is the emotional dimension of a memory, accessible directly, without going through the mental reconstruction of the event. It is stored in the amygdala and can be reactivated by sensory stimuli (smell, sound, image).
What are the 4 pillars of emotional intelligence?
The 4 pillars of emotional intelligence are: (1) Emotional self-awareness - identifying what you feel in real time, (2) Emotional regulation - managing your emotions without suppressing or exploding, (3) Empathy - understanding what the other feels without absorbing their emotions, (4) Social skills - using emotional intelligence to communicate, resolve conflicts, create authentic bonds. Developing these skills transforms your relationship with emotions.
What is the rarest type of memory?
The rarest type of memory is eidetic memory (or "photographic"), which allows remembering images, sounds, or objects with extreme precision after very brief exposure. Only 2-10% of children have this ability, and it usually disappears in adulthood. Not to be confused with hyperthymesia (exceptional autobiographical memory) which allows remembering almost every day of one’s life with accuracy.
What is the most powerful type of memory?
Emotional memory is the most powerful and lasting type of memory. Emotionally charged experiences (traumatic or extremely positive) are encoded much more strongly than neutral information. The amygdala intensifies the consolidation process, making these memories almost indelible. That is why you remember precisely significant events that happened decades ago, while you forget what you ate yesterday. Essences like Chichaja or Chiric Sanango work on this deep memory.
To go further:
- Discover Chichaja to release cellular memory
- Explore Chagropanga for subconscious exploration
- Anchor yourself with Caapi in the present
- Work deeply with the Kit of 9 Floral Essences
Author Laurent Gheller